Breaking a series of lighter post, I thought of writing this straight from heart post.
It is really hard to be so callous to the recent “Mumbai Attacks” especially with the mainstream media’s 24 hours a day coverage. As usual, a lot of questions arise.
Is this event getting a wide spread coverage because of the plurality of people involved? Is this event getting coverage because the financial epicenter has been attacked? Is this event getting coverage because of the importance of people held as hostage? Why didn’t the suicide deaths of Farmers at Vidharba didn’t grab a Nationwide attention among the mainstream media? Why are we so callous or ignorant about the day-to-day death of civilians in J & K or Iraq or Afghanistan or even the ethnic rife between tribes in D.P.R. Congo? What about the ethnic cleansing and marginalization of Tamils in Northern Sri Lanka?
To me it is all about:
“Only two parties are involved in an incident. One’s that did their role and the others that didn’t”
When I say the ones that did their part, i mention the role of the Terrorists and the NSG, Commandos and those that sacrificed their life in the line of duty. The other that didn’t do their role would be none other than the Politicians, the vested interest Mainstream media and of course the {self-concerned} Citizens.
Rather than painting a religious angle to the attacks, I would ask you:
“How many of you really do your job?”
I mean, this is an example I often cite. There is a roadside vendor at my town that sells sweet steamed cakes (பனியாரம்) for Re 1 per cake. She does a straight 9 hours shift in a labour intensive job. She has her roadside shop nearby the Central Excise & Income Tax Department at Madurai. Such is the scenario outside. When you walk in to these Central Government departments, the stale smell of Government building fills the aroma. If you are filing a tax return you can bump in to some of the corrupt hands in the department (considering the fact that the very officials are salaried and have a stable retirement benefits prescribed by the pay commission). This is not to say that there aren’t straight ones. The percentage of straight ones form a worrying minority and at cases the straight ones are treated as a “Pariah” by the corrupt majority. Such is the scenario inside these blocks made out of concrete.
Income Tax Department is no exception. There is the Regional Transport Organization, Madurai Corporation, Madurai Collectorate etc. where day-to-day corruption is prevalent. This is the set of people that I am really ashamed of! This is the set that I term “the ones that do not do their job!”. Like Madurai, there are a numerous towns and Cities that are affected by a paralysing network of pathogens that affect the progressive growth of the Country.
How do {self-centered} Citizens contribute towards such malpractice and in turn belong to the category “the ones that do not do their job!”. You may call me an idealist. Sometimes, I kick myself for not being the ultimate pragmatist. Seriously! I think, why the hell should I be ranting on malpractices etc. Think for a moment. We wouldn’t be having our independence if our founding fathers never had the guts to mobilize and emphasis the need to be united and fight for our fundamental rights. We will still be *unaware* of our rights as an individual and as a Citizen (we still are, that is a different case).
When there have been leaders that sacrificed their lives for the collective well-being of their Citizens and now we have National Security Guards that have died in the line of fire, shouldn’t we at least do something from our end if at all not sacrifice our lives? I mean, how hard it is for this generation to _not_ support malpractices at the Government Offices? How hard it is for the privileged ones to be considerate of those that lead a less-privileged life? How hard it is to have some personal set of principles for the collective well being of the Nation? How hard it is to throw away your regionalism for the sake of National Unity and how hard it is to throw away your nationalism for the sake of Global unity?
Finally, how hard it is for you to do your job? I mean, if you think from the perspective that “hey, I have to support my loved ones, family etc”…it is the case with everyone…even the ones that sacrificed their lives. So, running a family and sticking to a job shouldn’t just be an excuse. Love the job that you do. If it is that hard then why don’t you do a job that makes you happy or the one that you are passionate about?
If, as a Citizen, we do our job, then as a Nation, i don’t see a reason why there will be so many irregularities. Let us work towards building a progressive Nation with a common resolve.
* Do your job
* Pay Taxes (if applicable)
* Never compromise on the fundamental rights as a Citizen
* Make “the practice of corruption” a social stigma
* Build a better world around you and for your own progeny
* Have consideration for ones that are less privileged by birth
As ordinary Citizens, if we do _not_ have a set of personal values, I think on a collective sense we are so fucked up! I am not asking you to throw away your religious or communal beliefs (the last i care about). I am just asking you to put Nation and the World in front before these beliefs. I don’t really care about your personal lives. Let us at least build “a generation of change”. Without a collective effort, the whole concept of Democracy fails in practice.
No related posts.
